Metro mobility fund plan divides board

Updated 9:06 pm, Friday, August 3, 2012

A sharply divided Metro board approved a plan Friday that would give the city of Houston tens of millions of dollars more for road projects under a ballot referendum to be put before voters in November.

The 5-4 vote followed a sometimes strained, four-hour meeting and sparked accusations that city board appointees had orchestrated the move.

"It deprives the unincorporated area of Harris County the funds necessary to continue to build the infrastructure necessary for all the people who don't want to live in the city of Houston," said Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack. "It's disgusting. The growth is in the unincorporated area."

The measure before the board was an amended version of one of six original proposals regarding what is known as the general mobility program. Metro collects a 1 percent sales tax within its service area. Since 1988, Metro has diverted a quarter of that money to the city of Houston, Harris County and the 14 smaller cities served by the transit agency to be used for roads, bridges, bike trails and other nontransit work. Metro is required under the terms of a 2003 referendum to submit the renewal of the general mobility program to voters in another referendum.

With the exception of Humble, Katy and Missouri City, Metro's member governments receive mobility payments from the overall sales tax collections. Humble, Katy and Missouri City receive half of the sales taxes generated within their boundaries.

Similar treatment

The proposal passed Friday would treat Houston, Harris County and the other 11 small cities in similar fashion, giving each 25 percent of the sales taxes collected within their boundaries.

Humble, Katy and Missouri City would continue to receive a disproportionately larger share, Metro Chairman Gilbert Garcia said, in part, because they sit on the distant edges of Metro's service area.

The proposal also would require another referendum by 2021.

Should voters reject the proposal, Metro would be entitled to keep all of the sales tax revenues.

Garcia, however, said the mobility projects are important and said Metro would work with its member governments to continue funding them.

Afterward, representatives of the county and smaller cities were incensed, saying the move would shift millions to Houston, where the bulk of local sales taxes are collected.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett estimated that, if the change took effect now, $84 million the county and small cities would have collected over the next three years would go to Houston instead.

Hedwig Village Mayor Sue Speck called Friday's meeting "well-scripted," saying the Houston-appointed board members clearly came in with a plan.

"It is clear residents in the Metro service area support both improved roads as well as improved transit. I do too," Parker said. "While I would have preferred to shift more money to transit, this proposal, if approved by the voters, would maintain a balance."

Advocates like choice

Transit advocates welcomed the proposal.

"We applaud the Metro board for listening to what the public said, which was, 'Give us a choice,'" said Rebecca Tapick, a Citizens Transportation Coalition board member. "There have been billions of dollars in transit money diverted to non-transit projects. We felt that was something the public should have a say on."

The Metro board was divided on whether the mobility program had equitably funded local governments.

Agency projections show from 1999 through 2014, Houston will have collected less than its share of mobility payments, while Harris County and the small cities will have collected more.

Small-city appointees offered different figures, including federal dollars spent preparing infrastructure for light rail lines to show Houston had been more than fairly funded.

No new rail line soon

With the proposal to continue diverting a quarter of its sales tax dollars, Metro financial projections discussed Friday show the agency would not be able to break ground on a new rail line until 2023. It could not service $500 million in bonds, for rail or other projects, until 2020. Bus service would have increased by only 15 percent by 2030.

"If Metro really wants to grow up and be a regional transportation authority, I think this was damaging to their cause. This showed them to be a city of Houston transportation authority," Emmett said.

"People forget that of the 4 million people who live in Harris County, only half a million live inside Loop 610. Two million live outside Beltway 8. If you're really talking about regional mobility you pretty much have to have projects that serve those (people)," Emmett said.